Dillon Dube still calls his dad, Paris, before every game he plays, including ahead of Sunday’s pre-season rookie clash against the Edmonton Oilers.

One of his best pieces of advice?

“He says, ‘You’ve had some of your best games when you don’t get any points,’” said the Flames prospect, drafted by the Flames in the second round (56th overall). “I think I’ve had a lot of high pressure try-outs, going back to Kelowna when I was 16 and going through the ranks. If you get point-focused, you’re setting yourself up for failure. (The NHL is) a hard league. It’s not the Western Hockey League. I have to come in here and play the way I can, even if I’m not getting points. Be fast out there. Be hard on pucks … it’s doing all those little things to make the other guy look better and show you belong.”

After four years in the Western Hockey League with the Kelowna Rockets and a gold-medal in his collection from captaining Canada’s 2018 world junior team, the 20-year-old Cochrane native is making the jump to professional hockey.

Read into it what you will, but Dube did get a few points in Sunday’s 7-3 rout of the Oilers.

He put the Flames on the scoresheet — a top-corner rifle on Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner — and added an assist on linemate Andrew Mangipane’s goal. Along with Spencer Foo, they formed the most noticeable line and played a pile of important minutes.

He was realistic, however, explaining that there is more to give.

“My personal thought going into a game is being able to control the puck and making the right plays,” Dube said. “It’s hard every night to get on the scoresheet, especially here (at the NHL level). I think if you have to get noticed, those will come, and I think (Sunday) it did for us.

“But I think we were fighting it a little bit, playing together for the first time … being able to play the right way for us and being consistent moving forward.”

FIGHTERS & SCORERS

Getting noticed is part of the idea, especially with the majority of team brass watching intently before taking off to China on Tuesday.

Igor Merezhko, a Lethbridge Hurricanes defender who put up 33 points in 71 games in the WHL, dropped the gloves with Nolan Vesey and later got into another scrap. Zach Fischer and Jared Wilson started things off with a fight in the first period.

Jusso Valimaki, the left-handed defender who’s also prepared to make the jump to pro this year, showed his strength on his stick and set up Mangiapane’s five-hole goal on Skinner to make it 3-1 in the second period. He scored himself from the point. Mangiapane also had an assist on Jake Christiansen’s marker out of the penalty box that made it 4-1.

Meanwhile, netminder Tyler Parsons made 23 saves in the victory.

The first rookie game of the year is like ripping off a band-aid, but it’s an important step in the evaluation process.

“What we’re trying to do is give them a foundation,” said Cail MacLean, who takes over for Ryan Huska at the helm of the American Hockey League’s Stockton Heat, the Flames affiliate. “We want them to use their individual skills, but they have to have a bit of a team plan. They have to have a foundation to play together on in order for their individual skills to be able to shine through.

“We look at it as where are we in that respect … we have a lot of work to do.”

POLLOCK LOOKS TO SHINE

At 22 years old with two seasons of professional hockey under his belt, Brett Pollock is an old rookie.

So the fact that he scored two goals on Sunday shouldn’t be surprising. It also should be expected.

Time is running out for the big left winger and former second-round (45th overall) pick in 2014 to make an impact and make it in the National Hockey League, and he knows it.

“It’s a big year for myself … one of those years where you want to make an impression right from the start to show them you can play and show them the things you can do,” Pollock said. “That’s my goal, to come in here and make an impression and make them make tough decisions.”

Pollock made it 2-1 for the Flames in the second period and hit the scoresheet again late in the third period, but it wasn’t a perfect night.

For example, before he scored in the middle frame, he was part of a group that was hemmed into the Flames’ zone for far too long.

“It was nice to get on the scoresheet a couple of times, but there were a couple of shifts I’d like to have back,” said Pollock who had 10 goals and 20 points in 46 games for the Heat last season. “You want to win all your battles out there, and I’m looking forward to Wednesday to do a better job of that.”

Pre-season, rookie hockey is a hybrid between a junior hockey clash and an American Hockey League game — choppy, disorganized and imperfect.

But at this time of the year, a player’s job is to work with the constraints given, and Pollock, on a decent line with Matthew Phillips (who had three assists) and Glenn Gawdin (who lit the lamp early in the third), aims at cleaning things up.

“I think playing simple (is the best way),” said the 6-foot-3, 205-lb. Pollock. “You don’t want to be making too many high-risk plays out there and turn the pucks over. Obviously after a long summer, it’s kind of tough to get back into games right away, so just keep it simple. Getting pucks on net and talking a lot is the best way.”

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